Manchester United have now played two pre-season games, and one United star has stood out to Rio Ferdinand, with the former centre-back likening him to a legendary player at the club
The left-back position is one that has been plagued by misfortune in recent years at Manchester United.
Luke Shaw, signed under Louis van Gaal a decade ago, has been the club’s first-choice left-back for much of his time at Old Trafford. However, his tenure has been marred by injuries, most notably a tibia and fibula fracture in 2015 that sidelined him for 64 games.
To provide competition, Erik ten Hag brought in Tyrell Malacia, but persistent injuries have prevented the young Dutchman from making a real impact.
As a result, during the 2023/24 season, right-back Diogo Dalot was frequently deployed on the left, where he often looked uncomfortable and out of position.
Rio Ferdinand heaps praise on Dorgu
Ruben Amorim has looked to improve the left-back position, signing Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu in January and Diego León this summer, who will act as Dorgu’s understudy going forward.
Dorgu showed some promising performances in the second half of the season, and, speaking on a live stream on his YouTube channel while watching United’s 2-1 win over West Ham in their pre-season tour of USA, the United legend heaped praise on the 20-year-old.
“Big player this season. Another one I think we can get more out of, Dorgu,” Ferdinand said.
“He’s had six months to adjust, and we could be seeing something out of him. He reminds me a lot of Patrice Evra. Between the boxes, Dorgu is very good, he gets up and down.”
Dorgu set for a breakout season
When he signed in February of this year, Dorgu was always going to need time to adapt to joining a club of United’s stature, especially in a team drained of confidence.
However, the 20-year-old has hit the ground running in the two pre-season games so far. Against West Ham he made a number of excellent attacking runs, something Amorim would have been encouraged by seeing.
He has seemingly already built up a good chemistry with new signing Matheus Cunha, with the pair linking up well. Cunha, who prefers to drift inside, left plenty of space for Dorgu to exploit out wide throughout the match.
While it is only pre-season, it is certainly encouraging that Dorgu has been able to step up to the demand of being the starting left back at United, and looks ready to start fulfilling his potential.
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